When Your Art Humbles You

 






I’ve been working on my Be a Lady series for a while now (Since 2020) and it’s honestly one of the hardest art series I’ve ever done. Not because of the materials or technique, but because I’m constantly questioning what I’m really trying to say and how I’m supposed to say it.

This series isn’t just about me. It’s about the women I’ve encountered, listened to and learned from. Each one has shared a piece of her story, and I feel a real responsibility to carry that honestly in my work. But that’s easier said than done.

When I start painting, I’ll walk up to the canvas confident—I think I know the colors, the mood, the direction. I start loose and free, then suddenly I tighten up. I stop feeling and start overthinking. I step back, say to myself, “Okay, I know now,” then step forward and lose it all over again. The more I add, the less it feels right. The energy shifts. The painting feels off not just technically, which it is hard to paint on 5 x 5 feet canvas (they are bigger than me), but emotionally.

And then there’s the style. I can’t seem to land on one. I keep playing with different looks, different feels, trying to find the balance in the emotion. Some days I think I’ve found it, and the next day it’s gone. It’s frustrating, but maybe that’s part of the process—figuring it out while I’m in it.

This series has a way of humbling me. It forces me to listen more than I paint. To stop forcing a vision and start allowing one to form. Sometimes, in the middle of all this frustration, I can feel my mom’s quiet presence those little nuggets of wisdom she used to share in a song or her own experience, her gentle smile of encouragement. She was so good at that. She had this calm way of reminding me to breathe, to stop overthinking, and to just let things unfold. I swear I can still hear her saying, 

“ Lyssa Lynn You’ll find it, just give it time.”

Right now, I don’t have all the answers. I’m still piecing the stories, still experimenting, still paying attention to what feels honest. Maybe that’s what Be a Lady is meant to be—a journey of not knowing, but creating anyway.


Humbly, 

Lyssa Lovejoy



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